NY Mayor to Speak at Police Graduation as Tensions with Officers Mount

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was set to address graduating police cadets on Monday, two days after thousands of uniformed officers turned their backs on him at a slain cop's funeral over what they called his failure to support law enforcement.

The mayor's appearance at a New York Police Department graduation ceremony comes amid mounting tensions after two officers were killed following months of nationwide demonstrations over what protesters say are racist police practices.

The two policemen were ambushed and fatally shot as they sat in their marked squad car in Brooklyn on Saturday, Dec. 20.

At the funeral on Saturday for policeman Rafael Ramos, de Blasio's remarks were met by a show of disrespect by thousands of officers who turned their backs on him.

The wake for the second officer, Wenjian Liu, was set for Saturday in Brooklyn and the funeral on Sunday.

The man who shot the officers said he was seeking to avenge the deaths of two unarmed black men who died in confrontations with white officers last summer in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City.

The black men's deaths triggered a wave of demonstrations against police violence in New York and other cities during the fall, and de Blasio voiced qualified support for the protests.

The killing of Ramos and Liu triggered a backlash and led the head of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association police union, Patrick Lynch, to say the mayor had the officers' blood on his hands.

Police Commissioner William Bratton said some of the tension was due to labor negotiations between the city and police unions.

"They involve a lot of history in the city that's really different from some of what's going on in the country as a whole," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.

The mayor's office said on Monday that a Fallen Heroes Relief Effort, established to honor the slain officers, had raised $120,000 in pledges to donate to the families.

Another charity, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, said in a statement it has raised $250,000 toward its goal of $800,000 to pay home mortgages for the officers' families.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was set to address graduating police cadets on Monday, two days after thousands of uniformed officers turned their backs on him at a slain cop's funeral over what they called his failure to support law enforcement.
The mayor's appearance...